


Strong as Steel

by shadowblade_tara



Series: Spiderweb [3]
Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Found Family, Gen, Mental Link, eventually someone gives, featuring Sunflower lyrics, it's noir, miles gets in over his head, miles knows no fear, off-screen violence, the gang is a little nervous about the bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 10:11:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20329444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowblade_tara/pseuds/shadowblade_tara
Summary: There’s enough blood on the ground to soak into Noir’s pants, and Miles is barely reacting to him, but he’s broadcasting pain and fear.Noir doesn’t think.  He can’t think.Peter, I need your help.  Now.





	Strong as Steel

Eventually, the spiders go home.

Leaving for their own dimensions doesn’t mean they fall out of touch, though. It’s almost impossible to, Noir thinks. Even when they aren’t actively reaching out for each other, the others are a constant background noise in his mind. Most of the time, he barely notices them. It’s a soft, comforting babble, like the radio tuned to a static station. 

They don’t really reach out to each other. It’s too new, too different, too _weird_, even after the general weirdness of the past month. The most they do is sort of – peek in on each other. It’s not words, and it’s not touch. It’s simply a feeling more focused on one member of the group. 

Miles reaches out.

At first, Noir isn’t aware that Miles is doing it. He figures the kid will treat this new _thing_ like the other spiders are, with caution, but he’s not. Boy, is he not.

Tailing suspects is stressful enough. Tailing suspects that might lead him straight to Vulture is even more stressful. When they give him the slip – well, that’s even worse. He sits on top of the church, scanning the alleyways, trying to relocate them and ignore his own mounting anger and frustration. The others shift in the back of his mind, aware of his growing agitation, but he ignores them. 

Until he can’t anymore.

_Needless to say I keep her in check. She was all bad-bad, nevertheless. Calling it quits, now, baby I’m a wreck –_

Miles is _singing_ to him. It rides on the waves of Peter’s fond exasperation, but Noir can clearly sense the intent behind the soft song.

It helps Miles relax. Maybe it will help Noir, too. He can almost visualize Miles sitting in his dorm, sketchbook out, with a variety of colors at his disposal. It occurs to him that the image is being pushed towards him. Miles has picked the one thing he knows helps him, and the one thing he knows Noir likes, and he’s trying his best to help his friend.

It’s – new. Noir thinks he likes it.

He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and just listens for a moment. It works.

He takes off again with a new focus.

_Thanks, kid._

/------------/

Noir starts paying attention. Miles keeps reaching out, actively engaging the others instead of just letting the bond wash over them. He sends images of his sketches and graffiti to Noir, trades songs with Gwen, swaps jokes with Ham, even helps Peni with her homework (sort of. He and Gwen are the only ones that are smart enough to even try to keep up with some of the stuff that girl learns). 

He reaches out to Peter, too, although Noir never really knows what that’s about. The conversations they have are always kept in the background, and Peter never seems to want anyone to know about them. The other spiders respect that.

It takes two weeks of this strange dance for someone to finally break and reach back, both physically and mentally.

It’s Noir that does it.

He’s in his office, relaxing after a long patrol and keeping a half-eye out on his fellow spiders. Peni and Gwen are dealing with family affairs. Ham is currently trying to take down the Villain of the Day as he likes to call them (and seriously, what kind of a name is Majestic Caribou). Peter is helping his local police with a potential kidnapping. And Miles – 

Well, Miles is in the middle of something too. There’s caution bleeding quickly into fear. Noir frowns and closes his eyes, focusing better.

There’s just enough time for him to catch Miles thinking _Oh this is going to SUCK_ when pain explodes through the bond. Noir recognizes that pain. He’s felt it more than a few times himself.

Before he realizes he’s done it, he’s opened a portal and stepped through.

The alley is dark. There’s a man still twitching from electricity and webbed to the wall. A small figure is huddled on the opposite side of the alley from the man, breathing coming in harsh, ragged gasps. Noir chooses to ignore the criminal and instead focuses on the small Spiderman.

_Miles? You okay?_

He kneels down and tries to examine the wound. It’s low, right above his hip, not deep enough to puncture organs but that’s where the good news ends. Noir grimaces and places a hand on Miles’ shoulder. _Miles?_

The boy doesn’t flinch. Noir’s gaze snaps from the wound to him. His head is forward, breathing shallow and getting worse, but his hands are clenching and unclenching.

Shock. He’s going into shock. There’s enough blood on the ground to soak into Noir’s pants, and Miles is barely reacting to him, but he’s broadcasting pain and fear.

Noir doesn’t think. He can’t think.

_Peter, I need your help. Now._

/-----------/

The woman tells Jefferson how to get to the alley where she was assaulted. She’s shaking, babbling in what Jefferson assumes is Russian with some English thrown in – just enough for him to get what she’s trying to say. 

Someone tried to attack her. Someone else got hurt trying to save her. Whatever is going on, it scared her enough to get a prostitute to come to the police for help. That’s more than enough to get Jefferson’s attention, because there’s only one person he can think of that wouldn’t think twice about attacking a grown-ass man with a knife.

When he gets to the alley, there’s two spiders there, huddling over a prone form on the ground.

His heart is already in his throat as he jumps out of the car. “Miles!”

Peter looks up, a dark expression on his face. Noir is still on the ground, focus on whatever is beneath his hands. Peter doesn’t move, but motions for Jefferson to come to them. 

He doesn’t need to be told twice. In a flash, he’s on the ground next to the two. And there’s Miles, half out of it while Noir uses his jacket to staunch the bleeding from a wound Jefferson can’t see.

“He’s gonna be okay, if we can get the bleeding to stop.” Peter explains, voice tight. Jefferson can’t tell if he’s about to scream or cry, and honestly, he feels about the same. “Noir got here first. Aside from pressure, I don’t know what else to do. We can’t take him to a hospital.”

No, because that would blow Miles’ cover. Jefferson glances down at his son. The mask has been pulled up, his breathing labored but strong. The boy’s eyes are unfocused, probably in pain, and he’s singing under his breath. That damned sunflower song. It’s keeping him awake and calm.

Jefferson swallows hard. “Noir, I need to see the wound.” he says. Noir nods sharply and pulls back his jacket, just long enough for Jefferson to get a good look. He wishes he hadn’t. “Okay, if the bleeding is going to stop, he needs stitches. Noir, get him to the cruiser, keep the pressure on that wound. I’m going to drive home, you let me know if he gets worse.” Another nod, and Peter helps Noir get Miles up and into his arms. A moment later, and the spider is out of sight and in the cruiser. Jefferson turns to Peter. “Get Rio. She’s at the hospital.”

“You giving me permission to swing through your city?”

“Hell yes I am.” Jefferson nods. “Go.”

Peter is gone almost before he can finish.

The criminal pinned to the wall is coming around. Miles must have got him good with his venom strike. The guy glares at Jefferson. 

“You gonna cut me down?”

“Nope. I’m gonna leave you there until I make sure the kid you stabbed survives. Then I’ll cut you down.”

With that, Jefferson is gone. Let the backup deal with the asshole.

/-----------/

Peter and Rio make it back to the house at the same time that Jefferson pulls up in his cruiser, lights on and sirens blaring. The instant Peter lets go of her, she’s rushing to the cruiser and helping Noir get Miles into the house. Jefferson follows them in. 

For a long moment, Peter just stands outside the house, swaying on his feet. 

What the hell happened in that alley?

_Peter?_

Noir sounds so damned lost. Peter flinches and finally enters the house.

The entire gang is there, Peni and Ham and Gwen, and Noir stands there with blood on his hands and his coat balled up on the floor. There’s a trail of blood leading to one of the back rooms – Miles’ room. Peter thinks he might throw up.

He can’t fall apart just yet. He needs to be strong, at least for a while longer.

_Come on, let’s get cleaned up_. he says to Noir. The other spider just nods and follows him back to the bathroom.

By the time they emerge, Gwen has cleaned up the blood in the hallway while Peni put Noir’s cloak in the wash. Ham walks up to Noir, grabs his hand, and guides him back to the couch while Gwen approaches Peter.

_What happened?_ she asks. _Noir freaked right out, but we couldn’t get a read on what was happening._

Peter just shakes his head. _Miles is gonna have to answer that one._ he says quietly. _All I know is, the kid got hurt bad._ Gwen flinches.

_I wasn’t paying attention._

_Neither was I._ He puts a hand on her shoulder and sighs. _I think –_

It’s not his spidey-sense that interrupts him. Something – _Miles?_ – reaches out and clamps on to his mind, digging in and holding on, filled with determination and anger and _I’m not dying like this that’s embarrassing!_ The force of it drops Peter to his knees, but instead of pushing away or pulling back – 

He reaches out and holds on.

The others gather around him, but he hardly notices it. He does notice when they reach out as well, each of them grabbing part of Miles and holding him there, grounding him, keeping him alive. 

His body may be giving out, but Miles is still very much alive.

They sit there, crouched down just inside the living room, holding on to Miles and each other with everything they have, and wait for the night to be over.

/-------------/

Miles wakes up to the smell of pizza and a warm weight on his chest. He opens his eyes and tilts his head to the side, just enough for Peter’s sleeping face to come into view. A glance to the other side shows Noir, sitting in a chair by his bed and watching him. Peter’s hand rests on Miles’ chest, effectively keeping him pinned. There’s a dull ache right above his left hip, but it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as he thought it would. 

Then again, he honestly hadn’t been too sure he was gonna wake up.

_Advanced healing_. Noir supplies, keeping his mental voice low to avoid waking up Peter. _That’s about the only thing that saved you._

Miles offers a small smile. _That and you guys. Sorry I scared you._

Noir shakes his head, but he radiates relief and guilt. The connection is so _strong_ now. Miles can clearly sense Peni, Gwen, and Ham in the living room, teasing Jefferson and Rio about not getting any pizza if they don’t hurry up. He can sense Peter, still asleep but starting to wake up himself, not exactly at peace but content.

_You reached out to us_. Noir says with a half-shrug. _We couldn’t let ya go._

There’s a small knock on the door, and Jefferson pokes his head in. “So you are awake. How’re you feeling?”

“Sore.” Miles replies, his voice rough even to him, and the sound brings Peter fully awake. The hand on his chest clenches into a fist for just a second before relaxing again. Miles continues. “I’m okay, though.”

“Good.” Jefferson leans against the wall and sighs. “What happened?”

Miles grimaces. “I brought a fist to a knife-fight. I don’t recommend it.”

Noir huffs out a laugh. “I could have told you that, kid.” he says. Miles flashes him a tired grin. 

“Well, in my defense, I didn’t really notice the knife until it was way too late to do anything about it.” He tries to shift, but Peter holds him still. “Come on, man, I’ve been out forever!”

“Not forever.” Peter says pointedly. “Like, seven hours. If that.”

“So?”

Jefferson just chuckles. “Let him up, Peter – I gotta get my hugs in.” Peter just mock-groans and rolls over, allowing Jefferson to come over and wrap Miles in a loose hug. Miles just hugs him back, fingers sticking just a little to his shirt.

“Guess I scared everyone, huh?”

“Yes, you did. Please don’t do that again.” He pulls away, trying to hide his tears. There will be time later for him to reassure himself. Right now, there’s five others that need that reassurance just as much. “When you can get free, there’s pizza in the kitchen. Might want to hurry before the kids eat it all.”

“They’d better leave me a slice.” Peter grumbles. Noir just chuckles. Jefferson smiles and leaves the room. Miles watches him go.

“I’m pretty sure I can stand up.” he says hesitantly. Peter just rolls back over and wraps his arm around Miles’ slim body, pulling him close. The bed dips as Noir sits down and puts his hand on Miles’ shoulder. The boy blinks. “I’m okay, guys. Honest.”

“Give us a few.” Peter mumbles. “You scared me.”

_You scared all of us._ It’s Gwen, and the other three join the pile on the bed – which isn’t quite as able to handle the pile as the pull-out is. Ham winds up perching on Noir’s shoulder while Peni is sprawled half on Peter, half on Miles. Gwen just sits beside Noir, hands clenched in her lap. _Why didn’t you ask for help?_

Miles just shrugs. _You were busy. I had it handled – at least, I thought I did._

_We’re never that busy, Miles._ Ham says quietly. 

A moment later Jefferson calls out, threatening to eat all the pizza if the guys don’t get in there. The group explodes into laughter, and with a little help, all of them relocate back into the living room to finish eating.

/-----------/

It takes about two days for everyone to go home after that. This time, however, it’s different.

Noir leads the change. When Miles reaches out, he reaches back. Sometimes he reaches first – once he finds a stark black-and-white graffiti piece on a brick wall and sends Miles an image of it. That sends Miles on a search for all the black-and-white art he can find in his world to show Noir. 

The others follow suit, Gwen actively showing Miles songs from her ‘verse that he would like, Ham showing the boy new ways to break the laws of physics (which Miles delights in, even if he can’t copy it), Peni finds little gadgets that don’t have much of a practical purpose but Miles finds fascinating anyway. Peter, as usual, is a little more of a mystery, but whatever he does makes Miles happy.

And that’s not including the little ways they reach out to each other.

The bond is _strong_, now. Like steel, Noir thinks. Something changed when Miles reached out to them, when they reached back and kept him alive.

Noir leans back in his chair in his office, eyes closed and a half-smile on his face, and he listens.

_And you’ll be left in the dust, unless I stuck by ya – you’re the sunflower. I think your love would be too much._  



End file.
